- 06/10/2008 (12:25:10 pm)
- MEDIA
…..
Man dies after scaffold collapses at Civic Center
Accident sends another to hospital with hand injury
Investigators are checking into a Sunday night accident in which a worker was killed and another injured at DeSoto Civic Center following a professional wrestling event.
The stagehand killed was identified Monday by DeSoto County Coroner Jeffery Pounders as Kevin Sinex, 45, of Windemere, Fla.
Sinex was taking down a light array when he fell to the concrete floor from some scaffolding, according to Pounders.
"He was standing on some kind of beam, taking down the lights, when the beam collapsed," Pounders said. "He fell 25 to 30 feet and struck his head on the concrete floor.
"They took him to Baptist (Memorial Hospital)-DeSoto and tried to revive him, but they could not."
Michael Wald, a spokesman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in Atlanta, said OSHA is investigating.
"There were a number of companies involved, and we will be talking with all of the companies," he said.
Deputy Chief Steve Pirtle of the Southaven Police Department said Sinex and another stagehand identified as Paul Martin were on a set of scaffolding when the scaffolding fell.
"Actually, there were three sets of scaffolding and when the first set fell, it caused the other two sets to go down, sort of like a domino effect," he said.
"As far as I know, they were the only two men up on the scaffolding when it collapsed."
Police were called to the Southaven arena at 10:45 p.m. Sunday.
Pirtle said Martin received a serious hand injury.
"He was taken to (Regional Medical Center at Memphis), where I believe he was treated and released," Pirtle said.
Pirtle said he did not know whether either man was wearing a safety harness at the time of the accident.
"The show was over and the arena was basically empty when the accident occurred," he said.
Lt. Mark Little of the Southaven Police Department said Sinex was employed by Christie Lites of Orlando, Fla., working for TNA Productions in Nashville.
He said Martin was employed by Crew One in Memphis.
The accident Sunday night occurred following a TNA Wrestling show.
Andy Barton of TNA Wrestling in Nashville said he had been at the center Sunday night but had left before the accident.
"I've talked with people who were there, but I haven't talked to anyone who knows definitively what happened. It was a tragedy. We're working with the investigators to try to determine what happened," he said.
The death is the second for stage hands in DeSoto County in less than two months.
Charles Houston, 30, of Memphis was killed April 24 as he was hanging sound baffles on the superstructure above the stage at the amphitheater in Snowden Grove Park in Southaven.
